Democrats and Republicans praised a bill intended to curb opioid abuse in Iowa as a good first step before voting to advance it to Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday.

"I think it is definitely a path to taking a look at the opioid epidemic in the state of Iowa and hopefully staving off some of the things that are yet to come," said Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Dubuque. "We are moving in the right direction."

The House gave unanimous approval to House File 2377 Wednesday, sending it to Reynolds for her signature.

The bill makes numerous changes, including requiring doctors, dentists and nurse practitioners to check more closely before prescribing addictive painkillers to patients. They'll also no longer be allowed to write paper prescriptions for such pills, which are blamed for helping fuel the country's opioid addiction and overdose epidemic.

Rep. Chuck Isenahrt, D-Dubuque, said he was disappointed the bill does not include language allowing for "needle exchanges," which could allow drug users to exchange used needles and syringes for clean ones without being questioned.

Isenhart and other proponents of those programs argue they can help prevent the transmission of deadly diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis C, and bring drug abusers in contact with public-health professionals who can nudge them toward addiction treatment.

That provision would prevent people from being prosecuted for crimes such as drug possession if they called for help for a fellow drug user who’d overdosed

"We’ve all heard about the stories here in the state of Iowa where people have died because they were abandoned — when they got overdosed people just ran away," he said. "This will allow immunity so people can call and get the help for them right now and be able to get them, hopefully, in a treatment program that will then get them on the right track."